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Well I am back after a very long and tiresome time away from Aikido.
I was super sick for a while and am on new meds which making being in public very hard and very tiresome. So today after a week or so making myself mentally prepared for class I went!
It was nice to see all the old faces there and also to get some nice practice there as well.
Rene is staying at our place so we met at the dojo, super nice as well to see him there as well.

So the lesson started with us doing the usual warm up, René took this and Brent Sensei kept on stopping him and telling him where he was going wrong, this was super strange as he never stops the warm up, but any way this is who it went.

We then did kihon dosa again. this time he went to Rene and told him where he was going wrong right up until we had stopped doing all of the techniques.
We then went on to do the five techniques of which I forget the name of them.
But it was
1 - turn nikajo and then ikajo
2 - turn yonkajo
3 - shihonage
4 - sankajo
5 - hijiate

We did this in a group where one man stood in the middle and we all went at him.
Was ok but Gerald and Gihme had such ego it was pretty off putting and made me feel a little uncomfortable also Rene as he was also complaining about this after the class as well.

Well from now on I will be putting the blogs as private!
I have received a few mails over the last few months saying that the way people read these as either offensive or as rude!

This is a little depressing to me, as I do nothing but give and give heart and soul into Aikido and I want to advance so this is why I give. I blog so I can remember how the l see the lessons are and how I felt in this lesson weather it be good or bad happy or sad!

Yet people read these blogs and take offence or construed it as rude, they take the blogs and place me in horrible situations that do not allow me to write anything!

My blogs are like this for example!

Three people looking at a loaf of bread:

A banker a fisherman and a tramp!

The banker looks at a loaf of bread and thinks if I slice this really thin I can get quite a lot of money from this.

The fisherman thinks if I take a small pinch of bread and catch a fish I can then put the fish into two thick slices and have a hearty meal!

The tramp thinks I can live from this loaf of bread for around two weeks!!

Things can be read either way and these are my private thoughts yet people are now seeing this as something else something more than the truly are, just thoughts on how I perceive the sport I put so much into!

So from now on the blogs will be placed as private and of you would like to read them then I am sorry...

Was in class last night after last week training three times as Sensei had a French student over for a lot of intense training. Training with Sensei in a private lesson and being his Uke is very nice and I also learn a lot more as you learn to Ukemi better so as not to lose a limb or injure yourself.

Saturday was a tough training as it was intense and I was with the French guy again doing ashi sabaki over and over until I felt like I wanted to throw up!

But nothing I think could compare to Tuesday's class. I arrived Tuesday and the bell was working, which is always a nice sign!

I got changed and noticed the G-man was back after a while away, this meant I had to mentally prepare myself for some hard throws (and I was correct). I waited for Rene or Paddy but Sempai joss arrived and I knew that I would be doing some advanced techniques coupled with some damn hard throws from great heights.

Well we warmed up quite quickly and this was easy to do as it was sauna hot in the dojo last night and we where then reminded that we have a demonstration to do and this must be prepared for quickly (as we like the 7 P's Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance).

We then started the lesson with a nice technique where Uke attacks with a shomen uchi strike. You cut it, quickly turn the opponent and then throw (I forget the name). This was done over and over, I found it difficult,
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Well I arrived a little later then usual last night and was greeted at the door by Joss who was super happy to see me. We chatted about the weather and got changed. We chatted about why we where doing Aikido and what we expect and then went in to the dojo.

One of the Jiu Jutsu guys had bust his nose and was bleeding on the benches, the rest where wrestling on the mats and placing each other in painful looking arm locks and other unusual positions.

We waited on Gerald getting ready and started our class. We did the usual communal warm up and then rolling and tumbling from one end of the mat to the other when Paddy arrived and also the little German chick.

We had a full house and where ready to train.

We started with soft cross wrist grab techniques. (Turn Nikajo then Turn Yonkajo, Sankajo, shihunage and then Hijiate). This was super amazing as I learned that all I had to do was wither turn and keep my hands at my head and the technique was dynamite. I could really throw Gerald about like a rag doll if and only if I got it just right. We did this over and over until I felt really good about what I was doing. Gerald really threw me some doing his techniques as we where training mainly on the feel and timing.

We then did the attacks from Shomen (head cut). The techniques where (Kotageshi,Shihomage, Hijiate, kokyunage and Iriminage) all from a chop to the head. I did this with Paddy who got a little flustered with himself as he kept
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I was at work and received a mail from Gerald who said that he had prior agreements and could not help out with today's training?
I was a little confused and scrolled down the e-mail to see what he was talking about and saw that our sensei was on holiday in Spain for one week? I had no idea what was going on and was a little shocked that I did not know about this before hand but I can also understand that every one needs a holiday so it was ok.

Gerald has stated in his mail that Jiu Jutsu was a little more aggressive and met his needs as a Man and that Aikido was a little more for the more feminine of the male species and that he could not help us out. This I knew would create a little more split in both groups yet this does not bother me in the least as I know how good I am at Aikido now and I know that Jiu Jutsu is truly not for me at all.

Jost arrived and me, Rene and Jost got changed whilst the Jiu Jutsu class finished up and we had the mats.
We went through the usual warm up and then on to Tai sabaki Ichi and Ni then Hiriki no sei ichi, ni and then Ushiro mawari ichi, ni.

We then did Tai sabaki ichi, ni and also touched on san which was very nice indeed.

We did Kihon waza Sankajo,kotageshi and hijiate.

We also did some other nice stuff which I cannot remember the name's of but in all a totally great lesson which I liked a lot even though there was no Sensei and only three people.

One thing I did notice was that the black belt for the shinken
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Well I was running late and the weather in Holland was super bad yesterday so I had to take the tram to class instead of the bike. I arrived way before time which was unexpected and was met at the door by Mrs Brent Sensei. We chatted and I got changed. Rene arrived and then Joss who had not been at lesson in a while.I also found out that his next grade is for Black belt!!

We also had a watcher in class who is interested in Aikibuken.
Then arrived little German chick who had taken one year off, for reason I have no idea and who brought a little calmness to the lesson yet also was super weak and feeble and I found that training with her was super weird as I was used to blokeys throwing each other to the ground with adrenaline and testosterone.

We did the usual warm up and then into rolls etc...
We then did five throws one after another, Ikajo,sankajo,yonkajo,shihonage, hijiate.
Then into a different form. Sokomen,something I can't remember,shihonage,something and my brain gave up thinorning.

We then did JO staff work again. I worked with Rene first on the usual throws from "Holding my little stick" the flag pole move, I forget the name and then nikajo.
We then did work with the sword. We did shihonage and irirminage.

Was a weird lesson as I trained with the chick who had tiny wrists and no power, she was kind of a fifth wheel yet I hope she picks her game up and gets better.

Well just back from lesson and Had a super lesson.
I arrived a little later than usual and was greeted at the door by Rene who had also just arrived,wich was nice.
We got changed together and chatted about stuff. We went into the dojo and looked at todays quite huge lesson adn where impressed by the super turn out for Jiu Jutsu. Paddy arrived and we all watched on as they rolled around the floor placing each other in strange positions and rather nasty looking holds.

our lesson started with Brent Sensei telling us that we should focus on the Aiki way yet also not limit ourselfs to this by not trying new things, such as Jiu Jutsu!

The lesson started with the usual warm up and the rolls etc, then on to attacks from a sword. We did Shihunage, hijiate and also the same version of throws as Tuesday.

It does seem that our lessons have gone up a notch and are becoming more and more tecnical and it is not just me who is noticing this.

I arrived at class and was met by Mrs. Brent sensei who had to leave early as she had a prior engagement to attend. I went in and got changed and saw that the Jiu Jutsu class was huge with around seven people there all ready and willing to be placed in certain positions that humans would not usually be in.

Rene arrived and then Paddy and we all chatted and got changed.
We went into the dojo and worked on the punch bag and did certain kata's and watched the crazy Jiu Jutsu people get hurt.

Brent Sensei asked us to join in on the Jiu Jutsu group as we needed to learn choke holds, shivers ran up and down my spine with the thought of passing out and involuntary urination and defecation as I walked on to the mat.

The first three where using the GI and different ways and this was done on me by Rene who took pleasure in this witch was a little scary with a man on top of you with a huge grin strangling you until you choke.
Brent Sensei came over and showed how it was to be done and instantly stopped me breathing which was shocking and scary. He said that when you got real good you can grapple with some one without them knowing that they are being choked out, until its too late.

After this we did bare hand chokes and then the lesson ended and we started with Aikibuken.
We needed no warm up and we went straight into So Tai B where you needed to dodge a swinging sword.
I now know A and B yet I need to brush up on my sword skills as this was my weakest point. Thi
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well for my first grading I think this was the most painful experience any one has to go through, ever!
To stand up in front of your class and have to show different techniques as they are shouted out to you was a little intimidating and also a little off putting in some parts.

I arrived at the dojo well in advance and helped Brent Sensei get things ready for the grading. We chatted about how we thought at that time and how things would go ok and not to worry yet I had been with Rene the day before and done everything we needed to know over and over and over again.

I put the stools away and I swept the floor and then put the mats out.
Gerald arrived and he was full of good spirits and high hopes for the grading, he was super ready for this as Gerald is not a stupid guy he is quite clever and knows what he is talking about and also knows his Aikido very much. He and Brent sensei worked together on a few techniques. Rene arrived and then followed by Paddy and Bart. We all worked on our forward rolls and backward rolls on the mat as we waited for Joss. Joss was a little late and then we started.

We all bowed and Brent Sensei said that this should be how we show him what we know and what we have!

* Suddenly my brain went dead *

The warm up was good and then we did Tai no Henko ichi and San then hiriki no sei ichi and ni followed by Mae mawari Kaiten and Ushiro mawari Kaiten. This Rene and I had done the night before so I was ok with this.